Adult Film Studios Threaten to Quit L.A. Over Condom Law

Some makers of pornographic films are threatening to leave Chatsworth and Los Angeles if Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signs an ordinance denying film permits to studios that fail to require actors to use condoms.

Councilman Mitch Englander was the one dissenting vote when the City Council voted 9-1 in favor of the ordinance Tuesday. The mayor is supportive of the proposal. Englander's district includes Chatsworth.

Much of the nation's multi-billion-dollar adult film industry is headquartered in Chatsworth.

"Approximately 90 percent of U.S. porn films are made in Los Angeles, almost all of them in the city's San Fernando Valley," Mark Kernes, senior editor of Chatsworth-based Adult Video News told the New York Daily News. "When films, Internet downloads, sex toys and admission to dance clubs are counted, it's an industry that produces about $8 billion a year in revenue," Kernes said.

"It's going to be interesting to see how in fact they do try to enforce it and who's going to fund it and all of the time and effort they're going to spend," said Steven Hirsch, co-founder and co-chairman of Los Angeles-based Vivid, one of the largest makers of erotic movies.

"Ultimately, I think what they will find is people will just stop shooting in the city of Los Angeles," Hirsch told the New York Daily News. "That's a given."

His company, founded in 1984, would be among those that would consider leaving, he said.

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